Morphological Adaptation in Adult Short Bowel Syndrome Undergoing Intestinal Rehabilitation

OBJECTIVES: To observe the adaptive changes of the intestinal mucosa in patients with short bowel syndrome (SBS) who received intestinal rehabilitation therapy and further evaluate the feasibility of the magnifying endoscopy for monitoring intestinal adaptation. METHOD: Ten patients with SBS received growth hormone (GH) (0.05 mg/kg/day), oral glutamine (30 g/day), plus enteral nutrition (EN) for 4 weeks. Intestinal absorptive function, mucosal morphology, proliferating, and apoptotic status were investigated before and after treatment. RESULT: All patients completed the treatment. Intestinal absorptive function and villus height were significantly improved after treatment (p < .05). Furthermore, the proliferation levels of the small bowel were increased (p < .05). In addition, we also found that magnifying endoscopy can well describe the microscopic changes of intestinal mucosa. CONCLUSION: Treatment with GH, glutamine, and EN has positive effect on intestinal mucosal morphologic adaptation in patients with SBS. Furthermore, magnifying endoscopy for monitoring intestinal adaptation is practicable and reliable.